The Problem

Interior design is one of the most complex businesses on earth to run. Yet few interior designers have the formal business training to assess their own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

This is why 95% of interior designers merely create hard-working jobs, and never develop the structure necessary to increase cash flow and generate long-term savings and wealth.

And that's a shame because when run correctly, interior design can be wildly profitable for both sole practitioners and principals of small to large firms. 

As a business grows, complexity grows even faster. Complexity leads to problems and at some point, designers spend as much time "managing problems" as they do focusing on the two most important tasks they have—finding great clients and producing great designs! 

The Solution

A coaching or consulting engagement with David Shepherd provides access to a business mind and deep archive that is available nowhere else.

Having served on the faculty of two of the nation's top-ranked business schools teaching small business finance and strategy, David is able to apply the most powerful tools to help you succeed. 

David will quickly discover how your firm "works," and help you to understand how it should work! He will share with you the "best practices" of the most profitable firms, drawn from his more than 40 live events from coast to coast, and from the hundreds of designers who joined one of his national coaching networks, as well as scores who have engaged him for one-on-one coaching and consulting. 

When you enter an engagement with David, you are truly going one-on-one with the top business expert in your industry and the results will likely shock you! 

How Coaching Works

At the risk of oversimplifying, think in terms of coaching dealing with you as the principal of your firm (even if a sole practitioner) while consulting deals with the entire firm, not just "you."

Initial coaching engagements are generally 8-12 weeks with regular video calls, varying in frequency and length depending on the topic and the client's schedule.  

Unlike most so-called "consultants" who have just one way of doing things, David has discovered that each individual is unique and the only changes they will adopt, are those that are able to fully embrace. (They must implement changes because they want to, not because they feel they have to.)

While each engagement is custom, most follow David's proprietary "ActionMaps" framework which results in a crystal-clear strategic plan to achieve your highest personal and financial goals. 

How Consulting Works

Consulting deals with not only you as the principal, but your entire firm, including key employees if you'd like to include them. (Usually done through confidential interviews by David.)

For over twenty years, David has applied his "Designing Your Future" 3-Phase, 3-month process to helping firms to answer the following essential strategic questions:

I) Where Are You Now? (Situation Audit) 
Before considering paths available to you, we must have a candid understanding of your firm's current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

II) Where Do You Want to Be? (Strategic Alternatives)
Based on interviews, questionnaires, and David's study of scores of various interior design business models, future paths available to your firm will be discussed. 

III) How Will You Get There? (The Implementation Plan)
Here, you will work with David to develop a detailed plan of action to implement the path forward that was chosen after Phase II. 

ALL 3 PHASES INCLUDE A WRITE-UP AND DISCUSSION